


The Scientist

by Profitina



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cancer, F/M, Gen, Mentions of Cancer, Multi, Oral Sex, Racism, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:28:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22284124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Profitina/pseuds/Profitina
Summary: In a former life, Liz Ortecho was a molecular biologist  and leaving a trail of broken hearts behind her every few years. She had turned into a runner just like her mother. But then she caught the one thing you can’t run from, no matter how fast you go. It doesn’t care about how many degrees you have, your youth, your intelligence, your hopes or what you dream of. Cancer doesn’t care. She was in room 314 in the Roswell New Mexico hospital for fainting while busing tables at her family’s home and restaurant, the Crashdown Cafe. And then her childhood sweetheart, Max walks into her room.
Relationships: Max Evans/Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin & Alex Manes
Comments: 94
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

In a former life, Liz Ortecho was a molecular biologist studying genetics and leaving a trail of broken hearts behind her every few years. She had turned into a runner just like her mother. But then she caught the one thing you can’t run from, no matter how fast you go. It doesn’t care about how many degrees you have, your youth, your intelligence, your hopes or what you dream of. Cancer doesn’t care. She was in room 314 in the Roswell New Mexico hospital for fainting while busing tables at her family’s home and restaurant, the Crashdown Cafe. She had returned home after losing funding for her genetics study and running away from a panic proposal from her ex boyfriend, Diego, when he found out she was sick. 

Her phlebotomist nurse, Kyle, knocked then entered her room with a bin full of syringes and needles. “Which arm?” He asked with practiced enthusiasm, like he wasn’t about to stab her with a needle. He was handsome and ridiculously fit, which was enunciated by his powder blue scrubs. After all, Liz had eyes and was sick but not dead. 

“This one or this one are the ones you guys usually use” Liz gestured at two veins in her left arm. “But I think they’re tired from all the poking. You should try this one first.” She pointed at the vein her normal doctor swore was the best one, but few nurses could find without several tries because it liked to move. 

She thought about how when she was a young girl, she was deathly afraid of needles and would scream and fight the nurses when she received shots. Her Papi would have to bribe her with his famous churro pancakes or a milkshake for dinner to get her to be still. But after years of being sick, she was a pro with needles now. She sometimes imagined that she had had her blood drawn enough times that she could probably do it herself.

“Ok, 1...2...3...just a pinch” Kyle counted after finding her wiggly vein in the crook of her elbow with the tip of his gloved fingertip. Liz felt a small poke that bothered her a lot less than the tightness of the rubber wrapped around her upper arm. He filled multiple vials of her blood and labeled them putting them away. “What are you in here for anyway? We don’t usually see people your age in this wing of the hospital. Do you have a wicked hangover or something?” He joked. 

Liz didn’t blame others for not believing she was sick. She was only 28 and on the outside she looked young and vibrant. And with the opioid epidemic, people in the medical field were suspicious of anyone with weird pain or symptoms. They couldn’t see that inside every cell of her body was slowly being taken over by cancer. Literally, it was in her blood. And it would eat her from her cells to her marrow to her organs until nothing was left. You had to really know her well to notice the signs and she hid it well with her vivacious personality. 

“It’s definitely something like that” Liz forced herself to smile at him watching him leave. She always felt like she was in some sort of support meeting in the hospital. Hi, I am Liz Ortecho, my birthday is 1/14/91 and I have myelofibrosis. You would think the flow of information among her medical team would be seamless and easy but the fear of making a mistake or being sued had her reciting her name, birthday and diagnosis at least 8 times a day.

She was beginning to categorize people by how they reacted to her diagnosis. You had people like Kyle who didn’t understand what she was telling them and just plowed forward with his day oblivious. There were the doubters,sure, and the people that tried to understand but didn’t really care. Her sister, Rosa, was brutally honest and real no matter what. And her best friend, Maria, was thoughtful and positive no matter what storm came her way. Rosa and Maria were her favorite type of people. They made up for the doubters and the bullshit she dealt with. 

Liz rolled over onto her side facing away from the door thinking about how the doctors fit into categories too. The first category is the doctors who technically have no clue what the disease is and pretend they do. These are her least favorite doctors because they are dangerous, making decisions based on the wrong information. If they returned the next day more informed, Liz gave them a pass. And that is why she had a So Your Patient Has Myelofibrosis packet made during one of her longer stays. Having a rare disease could be frustrating. And then there were those unicorn doctors who actually listened to her and knew what they were talking about without looking it up. Liz had heard of them but never met one before. 

There was a knock on her door and before she answered, they walked right in so Liz knew it was another hospital person. 

“Alright, Ms Ortecho, you know the drill. Name, birthdate, I know why you’re here” a deep voice stated confidently coming towards her as she turned around.

Liz gasped as her one that got away from high school, Max Evans, was in her room. He had aged a little and had facial hair but was definitely him. He was still tall, dark and handsome and did things she didn’t want to think too deeply about to her heart. She looked at him confused, “Max? It’s been a long time”.

“Liz. 10 years or so but who's counting?” he smiled his same old lopsided smile, stopping beside her bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He never expected her to be one of his patients. “You, uhm, you still have to tell me who you are. It’s hospital policy”. 

Rolling her eyes knowing full well the information was in his papers, on her wristband and he had known her since they were 7 years old, she mumbled, “Liz Ortecho, 1/14/91”.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last time Liz Ortecho saw Max Evans they were 17 years old and so in love, but not sure how to describe it yet. He was her first everything and she had left him behind in Roswell to go chasing after her dreams and get away from all the drama her mother’s latest manic episode had caused. She had achieved so much since leaving but moved around every six months to a year, never forming any permanent attachments. Leaving Max was one of the biggest regrets of Liz’s life. She hadn’t really connected to anyone since or felt so alive. And he was here. In her room. Liz couldn’t find her footing. She knew she was staring and he was talking and she should be listening; but she couldn’t stop and put on the mask she usually wore.

Last time Liz Ortecho saw Max Evans they were 17 years old and so in love, but not sure how to describe it yet. He was her first everything and she had left him behind in Roswell to go chasing after her dreams and get away from all the drama her mother’s latest manic episode had caused. She had achieved so much since leaving but moved around every six months to a year, never forming any permanent attachments. Leaving Max was one of the biggest regrets of Liz’s life. She hadn’t really connected to anyone since or felt so alive. And he was here. In her room. Liz couldn’t find her footing. She knew she was staring and he was talking and she should be listening; but she couldn’t stop and put on the mask she usually wore. 

“Your red blood count is critically low. You’re anemic. That is why you fainted. I’m going to have to transfuse you with some packed red blood cells. I already cross typed you so your nurse should have your blood soon. Liz?” Max looked at where her heart monitor was picking up while she watched him. Misunderstanding the culprit, he said, “Your heart is racing. It’s not as scary as it…”

“That’s not why my heart is racing.” Liz admitted softly avoiding his soft, kind eyes. “I’ve had a transfusion before. They take forever but they don’t hurt or anything. The IV is already there.”

“Right. Uhm. Let me finish my rounds and we will catch up on the last 10 years and I’ll keep you company while you get your blood. You really do look good for all you’re going through”. He tapped his chin once, watching her thoughtfully and left the room. 

Liz Ortecho, his first love and the girl he had compared every woman he tried to date since to was his patient. He was so madly in love with her he had considered following her to whatever university she wanted when they were 17. He had written her a letter confessing the depths of his feelings and begging her to let him change his plans for her because he knew she would never forgive herself if she changed her dreams for him. She had never responded to it and they had continued on different paths until she ended up in his room. 

————————————————  
“Lizzie! Ay Dios mio I came as soon as we closed!” Liz’s older sister, Rosa and their Papi burst in the room dragging some overly cheerful balloons. 

“Did I just see a Max Evans in the hallway? He acted like he didn’t see me and darted into another room” Her Papi eyed Liz like she was responsible and up to shenanigans, not lying quietly in a hospital bed.

Liz looked away from his penetrating gaze, twiddling her fingers nervously just like when she was a young girl. It was her tell. “Is he?”

“Papi, Lizzie is sick and you caught him in her room over 10 years ago. Leave her alone” Rosa came to her backup, trying not to bounce Liz as she sat next to her legs. Suddenly, the air fueled leg massagers turned on under Rosa’s rear and she startled thinking she had hurt her sister.

Liz smiled, “those are to stop blood clots. Do you remember Jenna Cameron from school? She’s my night nurse and she gets cranky because I kick them off to sleep. I can’t help it. They feel like little pythons on my legs!”

Her Papi paced anxiously around the room while the sisters spoke waiting for his turn to ask, “Have you seen your Oncology dr yet, Mija?”

“Well… funny story, but Max Evans IS my Oncology doctor…” At her fathers huff and mumbled threats, Liz raised an eyebrow at her sister and giggled.

——————————————————  
Knock knock 

“Liz Ortecho 1/14/91” she automatically started, being well versed in the drill by now. Especially after Nurse Jenna had come in and made her repeat it after scanning the two bags of blood Dr. Evans had ordered, and the steroid and Tylenol that goes with them. “Oh! Max, you actually came back. Wanna play 20 questions like old times?” 

“Of course I came back. I said I would. You don’t have to do the date thing. I just clocked out”. 

“Oh, Max you don’t have to spend your free time up here with me. I’m sure you have much better things to do at home. I can just watch tv or…”

“Nothing I would rather do than be in here right now except playing 20 questions with you. Where have you been all these years?”

Liz hated this question because the answer was complicated,but he had known her once and was asking. So she replied, “Everywhere and nowhere. I’ve seen both coasts and a little of everything in between. Nowhere very long” She let out a breath uncomfortable having someone really know her but he had always been so easy to open up to. She couldn’t help herself. “What was your most embarrassing job in college? Mine was being the intern responsible for sacrificing rats for the Professor I was doing research with while getting my undergraduates”. 

Max made a face, then deadpanned “I stripped to pay my way through my first year of medical school. It wasn’t for me. Too many strobe lights and you can only take so much groping by strangers”. 

“What?! Did you go by Max or...?” Liz let off the type of guffaw she used to make when she was younger and less jaded. He had surprised her and she couldn’t tell if he was messing with her or not.

Max scrubbed his hands over his face mumbling, “they called me White Lightning. I danced to Sexy Back. You owe me 2 questions”.

Liz tried, really she did, not to but found herself laughing delightedly at his confession. “I just can’t imagine sweet, shy Max Evans dancing naked for strangers”

“I wasn’t naked! I had a thong and costume!” He exclaimed scandalized, narrowing his eyes at her.

And that’s where she lost herself to giggles until a pinching in her side drew her up short. “Oh! Haha. Ow!”

“Where does it hurt? Can I see?” Max was across the room and reaching one hand out towards her waiting for direction before she had even really noticed he had moved. 

Liz suddenly realized how close he was- practically in her hospital bed, hovering over her. And she was in nothing but this seafoam green backless hospital gown and her panties. “Uhm. He-here” she looked up at him placing her palm over her left side just under her ribs.

Max gently placed his hand over her hand, moving it aside and placing his much larger one where hers had been. His eyebrows were drawn in concern and he was carefully following her every movement for signs of pain. “Here?” At her nod, he applied some pressure and moved his hand around until she winced. “Sorry, Lizzie.” He whispered apologetically, not noticing he had dropped the old endearment. “Do you need something for pain? I can order something for your nurse?”

“No! No pain medication.” At his surprised look she explained, “my mom and sister have addiction issues. I’m scared I will too”. 

“Well, if it gets too bad don’t be a hero. Life is painful enough without dealing with that too. I’m going to have to get an MRI of your midsection to make sure nothing is going on in there. Don’t worry, Liz, we will figure this out. My buddy, Michael, runs the MRI machine midnight to noon. He will probably have his assistant come get you while you’re sleeping tonight or when you wake up in the morning. Let me go put those orders in so the machine doesn’t get all backed up”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im going to try to update on Thursdays but I have family coming in town so fingers crossed.


	3. Chapter 3

Max walked purposefully up to the nursing station. Taking a deep breath because he knew he was off duty and he had a casual thing going with Nurse Jenna and asking her to help the woman he had held on a pedestal his whole life might be tricky. 

“Max! Why are you still here? Did we have a scratching post appointment tonight or something?” Jenna asked batting her long blonde lashes at him.

“Uh, no. And you’re on duty.” He admonished her. “We probably shouldn’t do that again anyway. It’s not a good idea. I need to order an MRI with and without contrast for Liz Ortecho’s abdomen. She’s having sharp left side pain and I want to be sure nothing is going on. Also, she can have anything for pain she wants, up to and including morphine. Don’t forget to ask her if she’s in pain. She won’t tell you. She’s stubborn as hell.”

“Did you forget to put this in your chart earlier? You never do that.” Jenna noticed his extra details about the patient but wrote it off, opening Liz Ortecho’s chart to put in the orders. 

“No. I uh, grew up with Liz. We were catching up and she laughed and it hurt her” he avoided her eyes knowing he was acting bizarre and not knowing how to explain. “Have a good night, Jenna”.

——————————————————

Liz had just taken all the medications Jenna had brought her and started to drift off to sleep when there was a knock on her door. She opened one eye and registered that someone was wheeling a wheelchair into her room. 

“Ms. Ortecho? I’m Alex and I’m transporting you to get your MRI downstairs.” He helped pull back Liz’s covers and unplug her from the machines monitoring her. With a sigh, Liz slowly sat up and got up from her bed. She practically sleep walked over to the wheelchair and flopped in it. She knew it was hospital policy not to let patients walk going to certain places and fought the urge to argue. Alex wrapped a newly heated blanket up to her neck and tucked her in then spun her around to exit the room. 

He had a limp from his prosthetic but it didn’t slow him down as they made their way to the elevator. He pushed the button for the first floor then hummed to himself while it went down. He purposely pushed her through the maze of hallways, cutting the corners in an only slightly terrifying way that woke Liz right up. Reaching the diagnostic area with all sorts of employees only and radiation signs, he suddenly stopped as if there wasn’t a person in the chair at all.

“We’re here. You will need to change into one of these gowns without any metal on it in there before we get started and remove any metal from your body” Liz took the blue gown and went into the room he had gestured to to change. When she came out, he was leaning close to a curly haired man whispering “are you an alien? Because in those scrubs your ass is out of this world”. 

Liz did her best not to giggle and be caught eavesdropping. She cleared her throat to remind them she was there and waiting. The two men leapt apart, feigning nonchalance. “Ah, Ms. uh,” the curly haired man looked down at his clipboard. “Ortecho. I’m Michael and I will be doing your MRI today. You’re not claustrophobic or allergic to contrast right?” 

Liz shook her head no. “Ok, cool. So, do you want music in there? If I turn it all the way up, you’ll just barely hear it over the machine”

“Yes, 90s station please.” Liz answered as Michael scanned his badge and wheeled her into the MRI room. Liz always thought the machine looked like something from outer space. Michael helped her onto the narrow ledge he claimed was a bed and positioned her even where she needed to be. Then he expertly tucked her in with warm blankets like she was a baby being swaddled. Liz raised an eyebrow at him and he explained “it helps you not wiggle. You’re going to be in there for an hour, then come out, get contrast and go back in for 30 minutes.” 

He gave her her headphones then put a plastic space helmet looking thing over her head and clicked it into place so she could only stare straight above her at some attempt at cheery art on the ceiling. Liz was in a very submissive position that went against her fiery nature, but she took a deep breath and rolled with it. She could hear Michael fiddling with things in the room and then he adjusted the mirror on her helmet so she could see her feet and the control room. “There. You said you aren’t claustrophobic but just in case, now you can see me the whole time.” He sat something that felt like a squishy ball in her hand and said, “there’s your panic button just in case you need out. I’m going in the other room and we’re getting started.”

Liz heard his boots stomp away and then his wild curls popped up above the computer monitor in the viewing room with the control panel for the machine. Suddenly, she was slowly rolling back into the MRI tunnel until she was in it to her chest and the machine felt like it was only inches above her head. A 90s Spotify playlist started playing and the machine clicked on, making horrible noises like she was inside a washing machine. Liz closed her eyes, focusing on the bouncy *NSYNC song playing in her headphones and doing her best to remain still. Every time the machine made a new noise, her eyes would fly open and she’d glance at Michael in the control room before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes again. Each time, he and Alex were closer and closer. She idly wondered what their story was as the machine rolled her all the way in to her knees and she lost her view outside of the machine. 

This is probably where most people would panic but Liz wasn’t most people. She could be zen and just breathe, if her mind would just shut off. Giving up, she mentally sang along with the music she could just barely hear over the clanking machine and imagined herself dancing to them in her room when she was younger with her sister and best friend, Maria. And then when she was older, learning how to slow dance with someone of the opposite sex that wasn’t related to her with Max.

At the thought, their old song “I Want You” by Third Eye Blind came on and she gasped. She had blacklisted the song since they broke up before college but she had no way out now. She could vividly remember the way it had felt when he had held her close for the first time at a school dance and would playfully hum I can’t get enough when the chorus hit. And when they were older, how it had given them the idea to try doing it against the window ledge. She still thought about that every time she opened the damn blinds in her childhood bedroom. After all, the window ledge had little scuffs in it from her boots trying to find purchase on it from that night.

———————————————————

After Alex delivered her back to her hospital room, nurse Jenna came in to check her blood pressure and vitals before she could fall back asleep. “So, you knew Dr. Evans in school?” Jenna asked strapping on the blood pressure cuff and hitting the button for it to start inflating. Liz hated this machine more than any other in the hospital. With her abnormal blood, she bruised easily and then they wanted to check her vitals over the same bruised areas over and over every 4 hours. 

“Ever since he was adopted, yes. We met on the playground and he became my high school sweetheart.” Liz yawned. It was at least 2am and she was in that hypnotic delirious sleep deprivation zone where she was a little too honest. 

“Interesting. He never really talks about himself with anyone but he’s a good doctor” Jenna unvelcroed the blood pressure cuff and hung it up under the heart monitor machine. “Rest up if you can. The vampires from the lab will be here again early in the morning to see if your body got enough blood”. 

Liz tossed and turned trying to get comfortable but she ached bone deep and she had been woken up too many times. She lay there for who knew how many hours in that area between sleep and awake, never fully falling asleep. Long before it was light out yet, there was a knock on her door and nurse Kyle came in with all his tubes and needles. Liz gave up on sleep at that point. 

——————————————

Maria came by before opening her family’s bar, The Wild Pony, for the day sneaking Liz in some tamales as a treat. “Sorry I’m just getting here! You know weekends at the Pony are crazy” Maria rolled her eyes and flopped unceremoniously on the couch across from Liz. She eyed her curiously. Something about her aura was familiar, but different and she couldn’t quite place it. 

“What?” Liz asked noticing her studying her.

“You look different” 

“Well, I’m anemic and probably super pale. And I haven’t brushed my hair yet today” Liz teased her. She knew Maria thought she was a psychic and could see the future but Liz was a scientist. Psychics weren’t real.

“No. Not that. It’s your aura and your future. It’s brighter.” Maria argued. Liz let her because she knew Maria was the hoping kind. There was a knock at the door and Max walked in with his doctor coat swishing behind him. “I knew it” whispered Maria and Liz rolled her eyes.

“Good morning, Liz. Hello, Maria. It’s been a long time.” His eyes crinkled in laughter as Liz automatically recited who she was to speed things up. She had always liked to be the one in control of things, except in the bedroom. That had always been his domain. She was still so familiar to him, despite their time apart. 

“May I speak about your results in front of your friend or…” At Liz’s nod, he continued “Your MRI showed that your spleen is enlarged from having trouble filtering your abnormal blood cells. That’s why your side is hurting. It isn’t bad enough to need to be taken out yet but you need to be careful not to bang it into anything because if it bursts, it would be dangerous. You’d need to come straight here before all the toxins it filtered entered your blood stream at once. Your blood work showed you are still pretty anemic so I’m going to give you one more bag of blood before hopefully sending you home tomorrow. Any questions? Enjoy your visit. I’ll come get the two questions you owe me after my rounds”. He winked at her conspiratorially and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Max thought about what questions he wanted to ask Liz while he ate lunch. No men had come to visit other than her father and she wasn’t wearing a ring so she obviously was still single. Her paperwork said she didn’t have children, which he didn’t know how to feel about. On the one hand, the thought of someone else touching her made him want to explode things. On the other, she had always wanted children and was so maternal that it felt wrong that they didn’t exist. 

One question that had plagued him in the time they had been apart was why she had never responded to his letter confessing the depth of his love. Did she not return his feelings? Did she not want to build a future with him? Is that why she left without saying goodbye? Was he not good enough for her? It made him think in circles and drove him mad. Another question was where her mother was. Mrs. Ortecho was selfish and moody but deep down she loved her daughter. Surely, she would come visit if she was still around?

Having decided on his next questions for their game and being done seeing patients for the day, he headed towards Liz’s room. Hearing a distinct sharp “Look Bucko!” From her, he broke into a jog to see if she needed help. 

——————————————  
After Liz ate lunch, there was a knock on her door and a nurse in crumpled scrubs with a crooked name tag that said Hank walked in carrying a bag of blood. “I didn’t know they let the illegals on this floor. I thought this was one of the good rooms” he told her.

“Excuse me?” Liz asked, positive she must have heard him wrong. 

“Yo quiero some blood, huh?” He had the nerve to say that. To her. He sounded like the freaking Taco Bell dog from the commercials when she was little. It was probably the only Spanish he knew. Sitting up to her full height, which wasn’t that tall, Liz loudly exclaimed “Look bucko, I have 3 degrees. And I’m an American citizen. I’m gonna have the ACLU so far up your…”

Max quickly entered the open door, coming between Hank and Liz protectively. “What’s going on here? Liz? Are you alright?” Max’s eyes searched Liz for any sign of harm and although she was all worked up, she was fine. 

“I was just…” Hank started.

“I didn’t ask you. Liz?” Max ground his teeth glaring at Hank. He had never liked the guy. He made horrible jokes about patients and was constantly being sent to talk to Human Resources. 

“I don’t want to repeat his ugly racist words. Just get him out of my room, Max” Liz looked away, pulling her blanket way up to her chin for comfort. 

“You heard the lady. Out! I’ll deal with you later” Max growled pointing at the door until Hank slunk away. Sitting down next to Liz in her hospital bed, he gently started to rub her back like he used to when they were younger and she was upset. “I’m sorry he said that to you, Lizzie. I don’t know why he still works here but I’m going to take care of it, I promise. But look, he brought your blood. I’ll hook you up while we play 20 questions if you want to.”

“They let doctors do that?” Liz asked curiously.

“If they’re understaffed and keeping a nurse from doing it, sure. You don’t want him to come back and do it right?” He teased her, getting up to get a bag of Saline fluids to start her with before her blood. He hung it from the IV pole next to her bed and unscrewed the cap on her IV to connect it to the tubing and get it started.

Liz shivered as the cool fluid began entering her veins and Max sat down on her bed by her feet. He played with the white wool blanket for a moment before saying, “I thought of my two questions.”

“Oh yeah?” Liz tried to act like the idea of him asking personal questions didn’t freak her out but inside she was terrified. Would he look at her the same way when he realized she wasn’t the sweet naive girl she used to be? What would he do when he realized she was a worldly experienced woman now?

“Where is your mother, Liz? She’s the only person that hasn’t visited you.” She was going to get defensive, he knew she would, but he was worried about her. Last he had heard, Mrs. Ortecho was on her meds and doing well. 

Liz tensed up immediately, but she had been asking herself the same question. Didn’t her mother care that she was sick? “Mami hasn’t been on her medication in years. She started drinking and doing drugs again when Rosa found out who her father really was and became manic and delusional. She destroyed all the glassware in the Crashdown and hurt Papi badly by telling everyone their business. She isn’t allowed in the restaurant any more. We hear from her a couple times a year when she needs something”. 

“I’m sorry, Lizzie. You deserve better.” Max said rubbing her feet comfortingly. Her IV monitor beeped that it was done and Max ambled over to it to switch it from saline to the bag of blood Hank had brought her. 

“Alright, Dr. Evans. You get one more question then it’s my turn. Make it count” Liz challenged him, tossing her long black hair. “I’ve got a great one for you for my turn” Liz needed to know why Max had decided to become a doctor instead of a writer like he had always dreamed of. He had grown up to be so different from who she always pictured he would be, yet at his core he was the boy she had given her heart to so many years ago.

Watching the tubing in her IV line change from clear to red as the blood started to enter her system, Max took a deep breath and asked “why did you never respond to my letter?”. As if the answer to the question didn’t have the potential to rip his heart out or completely change his life, he feigned indifference.

Liz was starting to feel very warm. And confused. Max was in her room on her bed asking about a letter. Nobody hand wrote letters anymore. “What letter? You never gave me a letter” Liz mused, feeling her heartbeat racing and so dizzy. Somewhere, something was ringing.

“Liz?” Something was wrong. Liz’s speech was slurred and her heart rhythm was all over the place. Suddenly, her heart monitor started beeping. Liz’s eyes rolled back into her head and she started seizing. Before he could think about what he was doing, Max threw back her covers and put his hand on her chest to create a connection and see what was wrong. 

He received flashes of every significant event over their friendship and relationship- sharing headphones when he was new at school, their first kiss, their first time, the day she left him. And he was in. Searching through her body systems for the cause, he saw that not only was her blood abnormal but the wrong blood type had been given to her. He focused on turning every blood cell in her body into a normal A+ cell, fixing the cancer in her blood and stopping her body from attacking the wrong blood type. Hank had brought her the wrong type of blood. Then he focused on the scarring and abnormal cells in her bone marrow, healing the cancer there. Last, he healed her spleen from being overworked filtering abnormal blood. 

The power flickered from the use of his powers and Liz’s eyes fluttered open. “Max?” She asked him as the loudspeaker announced there was a code blue in room 314.

“Tell them you’re fine. That the machine is broken” Max gasped, stumbling out of the room. Liz look confused but nodded her ascent. He had used too much power and was definitely going to puke. He needed to get to his secret acetone stash in his office quick.


	5. Chapter 5

Michael frantically ran into Max’s office feeling the use of a large amount of power being used. “What’s going on? What did you do, Max?”

Max coughed, throwing up into the decorative indoor tree his sister, Isobel, had chosen for his office. Holding up one finger while he chugged a bottle of acetone. Max gasped “Liz was going to die”.

“Patients die all the time Maximus! You’ve never saved one so open like this before!” Michael threw his hands in the air, pacing the room.

“I used to love her! I think I still do. I couldn’t watch her die.” Max growled in defense of his actions, running his hands through his hair agitated.

“What are we going to do? Oh god we’re going to have go on the lamb!” Michael was panicking. He liked this town. He liked flirting with his assistant and taking MRIs of people's bodies. The machine reminded him of their old space ship and he was pretty sure the only reason the outdated model was still functioning was because he knew how to fix it.

“Liz isn’t like that. I almost told her everything when we were young. She won’t say anything, I swear” Max promised.

“You better be right. For all our sakes. And you’re going to have to take on the wrath of your sister”

——————————————

The orderlies rushed into her room with the paddles to resuscitate her only to discover Liz sitting up and well. “I uhm, think the machine is broken. It won’t stop beeping” Liz lied smoothly. She had no idea what had just happened but she was pretty sure she imagined herself dying. Her mother and sister were prone to hallucinations and it was only a matter of time before she had them too. She also had to have imagined Max’s hands glowing. The nurse checked her vitals to make sure she really was alright and Liz went to sleep. 

Liz slept all the way through the night and woke up pain free for the first time in years. Her breathing was no longer labored and the healthy flush was back in her cheeks. She couldn’t feel the pressure of the bed on every inch of her skeleton like she usually could. That must have been one potent bag of blood, thought Liz. She was basically a vampire, needing other people’s blood to give her the boost she needed to live.

“Alright Ms. Ortecho, you’re good to go. Dr. Evans has cleared you for release. I’ve got your paperwork and follow up instructions. I already called your emergency contact to come pick you up. Let’s get that IV out” Nurse Jenna said cheerfully, coming around the side of her bed to start preparing her to leave.

“What?” Liz asked baffled. She had never had a hospital stay this short.

“Your blood work was normal this morning. That last transfusion must have really done some good. Dr. Evans said to tell you he will follow up with you out patient.” 

——————————————

Liz hadn’t had normal bloodwork since her blood was first flagged for having millions of platelets 5 years ago. It’s not that she wasn’t grateful to be feeling better but she was a scientist. And a sudden change in the variables that quickly made no sense. Liz couldn’t explain what Max had done to her with his glowing hands. But she could put her blood cells on a slide and take a look.

Liz pricked her finger and smeared her blood onto a clean slide when she got home and looked into her microscope. Her red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells all looked normal. Shaking her head confused, she pulled out a slide with her blood from just before she was hospitalized. Liz periodically liked to look at her own blood samples to track the changes of disease progression. In the previous sample, there were half as many red blood cells as there should be, her platelets were large and misshapen and she didn’t have enough white blood cells. 

How could her blood change so quickly? There was no scientific explanation for it. And then there was the holographic, Max sized handprint that had shown up on her chest just where she had imagined him healing her. If she imagined it at all. The evidence was all pointing to something impossible that Liz didn’t know how to wrap her mind around.

——————————————

“I healed Liz and I’m going to tell her the truth about us” Max announced unapologetically walking into his sisters backyard where she was stretched out in a lawn chair sunbathing in sunglasses that made her look like a grasshopper reading a magazine.

Throwing down her magazine dramatically, Isobel stared up at him. “Are you crazy? The girl has been gone for 10 years, Max. You don’t know who she is anymore”.

“That’s not true! We’ve had these moments” at Isobels scoff, he continued “and I love her. I’ve always loved her. I couldn’t watch her die. She didn’t know about the letter I left her before she left. She didn’t leave me. And she’s way too intelligent for me to play it off like a miracle like I did when I healed those kids. I’m not asking. I’m going to do it. I trust her” Max defended himself. He was much too stubborn to back down once he had made a decision like this and they both knew it.

Taking off her giant sunglasses, Isobel looked up at her twin brother. “Don’t come crying to me when she runs screaming from you when she finds out she lost her virginity to an alien”.

Max rolled his eyes and nodded. That was one of his worse case scenarios.

——————————————

Liz was thinking about the implications of what she had seen on the microscope slides and sipping on a mint chocolate chip flavored Alien Blast in her favorite booth when Max Evans casually walked into the Crashdown as if he hadn’t completely tilted her universe. “Mind if I join you? Or is there somewhere more private we could talk?” He asked, brown eyes wary.

Liz was scared what he was going to tell her was going to change her entire understanding of the universe but she felt no apprehension about being alone with him. Max Evans had always made her feel safe and protected. She pulled her gaze from his eyes and said “sure. Let’s go up to my room”. 

They were almost to the stairs when her Papi popped his head out of the kitchen holding a meat cleaver. It was largely because he was cooking and only partly because he knew Max had touched his daughter. “Mija, why is there a Max Evans in my restaurant?” 

“Papi, do you need to pop a pharmaceutical? Your vein in your neck is bulging” Rosa teased, placing her order for the kitchen for table 7.

“You keep the door open!” Papi demanded, glaring at Max and making a slit your throat gesture. 

“I’m 27!” Liz gasped, outraged.

“My roof” Papi shrugged, watching them go upstairs. He always knew she would come back full circle to Max. It didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy teasing them a little. Besides, a little healthy fear of a girl’s father made a boy more respectful.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

“Maybe I should take them up a snack” Papi mused looking at the stairs.

“Don’t you dare. I have 3 tables and Liz can take care of herself.” Rosa raised an eyebrow at her father daring him to challenge her.

“But Mija…” he pouted, his antenna bobbing.

“No. You leave them alone.” 

——————————————

Liz felt Max’s breath on the back of her neck as he followed her up the stairs and willed her heartbeat to calm. Just having him this close to her had her skin covered in goosebumps and her mind was flooded with images of all the times he’d followed her up here exactly like this when they were younger. Of course, now they weren’t together and they weren’t tiptoeing so that Papi wouldn’t catch them. Her breathing never picked up from going up the stairs, which was strange. Usually, she had to pause halfway up to catch her breath. 

She went into the furthest room, her and Rosa’s childhood bedroom. Rosa no longer lived here with her but they still both had a twin bed in the room like old times. It was practically a time capsule back to the time just before they left home with bright feminine comforters and posters all over the walls. Liz hadn’t been back in Roswell that long and coming back to her childhood home had felt like surrendering. She didn’t feel the need to make herself comfortable here by updating the decor. 

Waiting for Max to pass her, she quietly closed the door behind them for privacy. She couldn’t think straight with him so close to her- that hadn’t changed. He was so familiar and yet this conversation she needed to have was so bizarre, she didn’t know how to start. She should lead with the facts and see what conclusion they lead to. The biggest fact was that Max’s hand had glowed on her chest and now her blood appeared to be normal. There had to be a rational explanation.

“How are you feeling?” Max asked, leaning against her wall and gazing at her with concern.

“I feel… fine. Better than I have in a long time” Liz mused, smiling at him. “But Max I have some questions. I just need to walk through this thing I think I saw and we will figure it out”

“Good. That’s good” He smiled back at her nervously. “What do you think you saw, Liz?” This was the moment he had both waited for and dreaded his entire life. How would she look at him after she knew what he was?

“I want you to look at my blood under my microscope. It’s different” She started, walking over to her desk and miniature home lab. Raising an eyebrow, Max followed her over to her microscope and took a dutiful look. He knew what he would see.

“Looks like normal human blood to me” he remarked. 

“That’s just it!” She exclaimed, whirling past him and reaching for something on the table, smacking him in the face with her long dark hair. She switched out the slides and scooted him to adjust the microscope into focus. “This slide was a week before I went in to the hospital. And you saw it while I was sick. How did it change so fast? It isn’t possible, Max”

Max chuckled. Nothing about this was funny but she was still the slight control freak she had always been. “Of course you double check your doctor’s lab work”.

“Don’t you?” Liz argued, knowing he liked to see things for himself as well. “And Max, I had this dream that the alarms at the hospital were going off because I was dying. And then you put your hand over my heart and saved me. Now I’m not sure I’m sick any more and I have this!” Liz was panting from anxiety and pulled her shirt right up over her head with no warning and threw it onto her bed.

It took a full 5 seconds for Max’s brain to move past the Liz is not wearing a shirt zone and will his penis not to get excited. This was not the time, she was showing him something. On her chest, was his shiny holographic handprint where he had healed her. “I worried that might happen” he remarked. 

“Max? What is happening?”

“Your racist piece of shit nurse deliberately gave you the wrong blood and your body rejected it. I couldn’t watch you die. Not when I had the ability to save you. So I put my hand on your chest, connected with you, and removed the wrong blood and cancer from your body. We can run tests in a few weeks to be sure, but you should be cancer free now. I think I was in the 1947 crash and I’m definitely not human.”

Liz gasped. What he was saying explained everything but made no sense. But if she was cancer free, she could go on with her life without doctors and hospitals. She wanted to believe so badly. “What do you mean you connected with me?”

“When I healed you, I got these images from your life before it let me in to heal you. I’ve never tried to show the images to someone, but I think if I touch your handprint it will connect us again. Then you can see inside my head and know I’m telling the truth. I just have to touch you ok?”

At Liz’s nod, Max stepped closer to her and placed his palm over the silvery mark on her chest looking deep into her eyes. Liz received images of Max crawling out of some sort of egg with a girl and a boy. It was his sister and best friend, Michael, she realized. Then she received various images of herself as she grew up but from his viewpoint and was flooded with a feeling of love. Then she received an image of him covered in glow in the dark lightning bolts, naked except for his black thong and hiding in a dressing room. Next she received images of Max in medical school and then everything paused on the last image of her unconscious in her hospital bed. 

“You’re an alien. Why me Max?” Liz stared at him in wonder, overwhelmed by the images and feelings accompanying them. It was as if she was the center of Max Evans universe. But it had been 10 years since they had spent time together. How could he have held on for so long?

“Lizzie, I have been deeply in love with you my whole life. I couldn’t just watch you die. I still am” he admitted softly.

"It's been 10 years. You can't still love me" Liz sighed. Regardless of how his declaration made her feel, she couldnt believe it.

"That's the part you cant believe?!" Max threw his hands up in frustration.


	7. Chapter 7

“I tell you I’m an alien and you barely bat an eyelash. But I tell you I love you and you’re all freaked out?” Max shook his head at Liz, his dark hair brushing across his forehead. She was so stubborn and analytical. 

“Because I saw your flashes and my cells changed. I have proof you’re an alien. The other doesn’t make any sense.” Liz shrugged flippantly avoiding his eyes. She couldn’t deal with the way Max Evans made her feel all fluttery inside and out of control.

“Well, I’ll just have to convince you I mean it then won’t I?” Max teased her. “See anything scandalous in those flashes?”

Liz thought about the image of him shirtless, covered in glow in the dark lightning bolts and smiled. “There was this one where you and Isobel were in matching dresses…” she started innocently half smiling up at him.

“What? That never happened! You take that back. This is slander!” Max growled at her fake outraged. Liz started giggling and he demanded “Admit it! I’m far too masculine to pull off ruffles and lace.” 

She didn’t know when Max had gotten so close but he was inches away from her. When she continued giggling, he reached out to tickle her stomach in revenge just like when they were children. Liz let out a guffaw then shrieked when he hit her really ticklish spot and she fell back onto her bed. “I never said there were ruffles! You did.”

Max peered down at her, with her hair splayed out like a dark halo around her head. He loved the sound of her laughter. It had been missing from his life for too long. “So I did. I was there for all the flashes I got from you, except for one of you throwing a ring into the ocean”. He sat down next to her on the bed listening to her breathing even out after their tickle fight. 

Liz sighed. “Oh. You saw THAT? Right before I came home, my ex boyfriend, Diego, gave me this over the top proposal when he found out I was sick. He said he wanted to love me forever and I just couldn’t connect with him on that level. And then he said he was doing it so I would know what it felt like to be married before I died. By forever, he assumed it wouldn’t be long until I passed away. And so I threw his fucking ring in the pacific ocean”. 

“That’s… awful and insane. I’m so sorry Lizzie. He didn’t know you Ortecho women are feisty?” There was a lump in Max’s throat because clearly this Diego douche hadn’t deserved to even know Liz existed. The lamp beside her bed flickered a few times while Max talked himself out of tracking the guy down and kicking his ass. Liz lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him over the power situation. “Sorry. I’m calm.”

“He didn’t meet any of the other Ortecho women. It all worked out. It’s ok, Max” Liz squeezed his hand in hers to soothe him. 

“Yes, It did” he whispered, squeezing her hand back. So the douche wasn't even important enough to meet her family. Oddly, it made him feel better. He didn't want to think about what that said about him. “Want to go see the pod I hatched out of? I bet your mind is just racing with questions.” 

“Right. My first boyfriend hatched. This is fine.” Liz took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

“You going to freak out?” Max asked her concerned, thinking about what his siblings had said.

“Nope. I’m good. Let’s go see this egg you hatched out of”

——————————————

“You actually closed the door with a hot man in your room? That’s bold, Elizabeth.” Rosa teased them when they walked past the register on the way out. 

“Shhh! He’ll hear you!” Max widened his eyes comically. He was a grown ass man but Arturo had knives and two beautiful daughters. He wasn’t stupid.

“Mija, you just got home from the hospital! Where are you sneaking off to? You need your rest.” Arturo called from the kitchen. 

Liz glanced at Max and rolled her eyes. “Papi, I’m literally leaving with my doctor. He’s the best hands I could possibly be in.” 

“Did you just tell Papi you want to be in his hands?” Rosa giggled at the red expression on both of their faces. They were all flustered and guilty looking, just like when they’d come downstairs after making out in high school.

——————————————

Pulling up to the old abandoned turquoise mines, Max put his Jeep into park. “I can’t believe you still have this Jeep. It really takes me back” Liz reminisced.

“Why buy something newer if this one still works? Besides, it makes me think of you. We’ve had some great times in this Jeep” he admitted shyly. When they were young, the only way to get privacy from their parents was to drive the Jeep to the dessert. They rounded all the bases one by one sitting in that Jeep under the stars. Of course he wasn’t getting rid of it.

Against a backdrop of painted New Mexican mountains, red dirt and sage brush, there was a boarded off mineshaft. Max approached the board and gave it a few sharp tugs to loosen it from some tumbleweeds so it would open. Looking down the long dark tunnel, he said “I was born in here.”

“This looks like the type of tunnel a serial killer would lure his victims into to murder them” Liz sassed but followed him. She still trusted him with every fiber of her being. Turning down the first bend in the tunnel, a thought occurred to her. “Oh my god. I just realized I’ve been probed by an alien!”

Max threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, you have. Izzy thought that would be the part where you freaked out.” 

“I mean, how many other girls can say that? So, Michael and Isobel are aliens too? Can they heal people like you do?”

“Yes, they’re the only other aliens that I know of. Michael has telekinesis and Isobel can low key mind control, but she prefers to call it mind influencing. This is where we were born in our pods” he said, gesturing to the cave where three human sized glowing eggs resided. 

Liz gasped walking up to one of them. She had never seen anything like it. “Can I touch it?” At Max’s nod, she reached a hand out touching the cool shimmering surface. The finger with a large silver ring penetrated the surface briefly, but otherwise it was solid and gelatinous to the touch. “This is scientifically impossible, Max” Liz looked up at him with wonder. 

“And yet, I’m here. I better get you home soon. I don’t want your Papi to hate me. I’m glad you showed up in my hospital room, Liz” Never in his wildest dreams had Max expected her to take it this well. Maybe there was hope for them after all. 

“Me too.” Liz whispered following him back out of the tunnels close on his heels. She would never admit it, but she was a little scared of the dark and needed to be close to him in those tunnels.


	8. Chapter 8

In the week that followed, Max fell in to the habit of stopping to see Liz at the Crashdown on his way to work every morning. It was totally out of his way and he always ordered the same thing but being close to her again made him happy. Seeing him slide into his usual booth, Liz asked “Ham and cheese omelette with jalapeños and a side of Tabasco and syrup as usual? Man. My stomach hurts just thinking about eating that”. 

“We like things sweet and spicy. And yes, please” He checked her out discreetly from her tennis shoes to her antenna. Yes, sweet and spicy was definitely his type.

“Good to know.” Liz flirted right back, tossing her hair as she turned to go put in his order. Max followed the movement of her hair as it swished with his eyes. He remembered how soft it was in his fists when he’d tug it playfully in the hallways. And how it felt like a dark waterfall across his chest after they made love. He wondered if he would ever get to run his fingers through it again. “Max!” Liz hissed as she walked by. “The lights!” 

Max coughed zoning back in on what he was doing, realizing he was making the power flicker. “Sorry. You look really beautiful today.”

Liz smiled shyly, “If you say so. I’m in this same ridiculous uniform as always. Do you want any coffee? I know you like to pretend to drink it”

“I’m not allowed to have coffee. It makes me way too high strung and like hot”. Max once blew out all the heart monitors on one floor of the ER after having too much caffeine. It was just better for the hospital’s budget if he stayed away from it. 

“This damn old electrical system, bambina. Did you see it? I hope it holds on longer to be replaced. We can’t afford to do that right now” Arturo fretted, eying his fluorescents distrustfully. 

“I’ll take a look.” Max offered, sliding out from his booth smoothly.

“Max, you have work don’t be silly” Liz shook her head at him. He always had to be her knight in shining armor. And he would literally do anything to make her Papi like him again after he had walked in on them a decade ago.

“Can I get my order to go? I bet it’s just a fuse.” He winked at her. They both knew it wasn’t a fuse and his hormones that had gotten the better of him. But he had been putting on a show to cover up alien things his whole life. If it happened to get him brownie points with her father, he wouldn’t complain. 

“I have a toolbox and flashlight in the back and the fuse box is through here” Arturo offered helpfully, following Max into the back room to show him where everything was. A short while later, Max returned telling Arturo one of the fuses was flipped in the wrong direction but he fixed it. Arturo clapped him on the back in thanks and went back to flipping pancakes. 

“If I kissed you would we lose our whole Crashdown electric system to a power surge?” Liz asked curiously, looking up at his lips. Max had tried to help her family and it was making her weak. 

“Probably temporarily but I’d be a very willing test subject” Max flashed her that boyish half smile he knew she liked. 

“Good to know. Have a great day at work, Max” Liz smiled back at him, handing him his disgusting breakfast.

——————————————

Max had just sat down for lunch in the hospital cafeteria when Michael dropped into the chair across from him with a slice of pizza. Drizzling it with mustard he asked, “Dream girl freak out when you told her?”

“Not until I told her I still loved her”

“Huh. You’d think what you are would be scarier” Michael remarked, shoving his pizza in his mouth way past the point of polite manners and chewing it thoughtfully. 

“You would think. I’ll just have to prove it to her. Dude, you’re getting mustard everywhere.” Max wrinkled his nose in disgust and threw a napkin at his brother. Max and Isobel tended towards neatness but Michael was pure chaos. He guessed there were differences among siblings even in aliens.

“Sawwy” Michael tried to say with his mouth full, and definitely not sorry. That pizza was delicious. Besides, he had extra scrubs in his locker and Alex liked watching him change.

“I think she thought about kissing me this morning. I’m going to ask her out for Friday. We’re actually old enough to go party at the Pony legally now”

Michael gasped in pretend shock. “No. Way. And like you’ve ever partied anywhere. You always hide in the bathroom with a book that’s older than you are”.

——————————————

“Want to go out with me to the Pony on Friday? It’s 90s night and that was always your favorite” Max asked Liz hopefully the next morning, looking down at her through his long eyelashes and soulful brown eyes.

“Like on a date?” Liz searched his eyes as if they were the answer she was looking for. 

“Yeah. Our second first date. If that’s okay?” Max held his breath. He needed her to answer him like yesterday. He hadn’t been this nervous about asking a woman out since the last time she had agreed to go out with him.

“Its a date” she answered beaming at him. He let out his breath in relief and pulled her in for a hug. He had to squat so she could reach to throw her arms around his neck but he didn’t mind. He rubbed her back gently and nuzzled her neck once before letting go. 

“Good. I’m glad. Pick you up here at 8?”


	9. Chapter 9

Liz was full blown panicking. Tonight was going to change her life, she could feel it. What do you wear for something like that? Should she wear something sweet, pink and floral to remind him of when she was younger? She didn’t really dress like that anymore. Max loved blue. Maybe she should wear something blue. But the dress was really short and it was a first date.

Rosa came in and smiled at the pile of rejected clothes that was almost as tall as Liz. She hadn’t seen her this worked up and lively in a long time. “Wear something red. Don’t go leaping back into this without your armor.”

“But it’s just Max.” Liz argued. “Maybe I don’t need my armor.” Liz held up a classic little black dress considering it.

“Ay dios mio, you’re already falling again. Poor Liz. Love makes you stupid. Here. Wear this” Rosa stepped into her closet and pulled out a low cut red sundress that would drive Max crazy. It would show off her sisters long legs and other assets perfectly. “He won’t know what hit him.”

“It really is the worst” Liz agreed, pulling on the red dress. Rosa was right. With her golden skin tone, dark hair and chocolate eyes, the red made her glow. Now just to do make up and breathe. It was just Max. This was going to be okay.

——————————————

Max arrived to pick Liz up promptly at 8, wearing designer jeans and a black button up shirt with his favorite pair of cowboy boots. When he saw Liz coming slowly down the stairs in a tight up top and poofy below red dress and black heels, he almost choked on his tongue. He was a doctor so he saw people in less all the time but this was Liz and she was all legs. The power flickered once before he caught himself and she laughed joyfully.

“You like?” Liz asked, stopping just in front of him. 

“We should go. I just almost blasted Arturo’s electrical system seeing you in that dress. It’d be hard to explain why I was buying him new wiring.” Max placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her to his Jeep. Holding out his hand, he helped her up then went around to his side of the Jeep. “I’ve been so excited about this all day.”

“Me too.” She admitted quietly. “You have a good day at work?”

“It was a normal day. I scheduled you for an MRI and bloodwork to double check that the cancer is gone next Tuesday if you’re free. You still feeling good? You look amazing”

“I am free that day, thanks. And I feel better than I have in a long time. Do I have to go back in that machine, Max? I went in there like 6 times in the last 2 years.” Liz fiddled with her rings nervously. She didn’t want to think about her health tonight. 

Max caught her hands to still them. “One more time, Lizzie. Just to be sure I got it all. Then you should never have to do it again.” 

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Max pulled into a parking space at the Wild Pony and kissed her hand to seal the deal. 

“I’m just going to step in the ladies real quick. You get us a table.”

——————————————

Maria followed Liz into the bathroom for a private girl moment to check on Liz. “Why are you wearing red lipstick? It’s messy. It’s going to end up smeared all across that poor man's face” Maria teased her.

“You don’t know that. Maybe I don’t kiss on first dates.” Liz sassed her, checking her makeup in the mirror. 

“I’m a psychic remember? I hope you wore your good bra.” Maria wiggled, readjusting her own bra and checking her makeup in the mirror. 

“Maria!” Liz exclaimed, dropping her mascara into the sink. 

“I said nothing.”

——————————————

Hours of bouncing and swaying to 90s classics later, Max and Liz were both covered in sweat from dancing. Just as Max was going to ask her if she wanted to sit down because he was getting tired, a slow song came on. Shaking his head, he opened his arms to beacon her closer. Stepping into his frame, Liz looped her arms around his neck and let him lead her to the Boys 2 Men song. 

“Do you think Maria did this on purpose?” She asked as she swayed to the beat, speaking into his ear so he could hear her over the music.

Looking over Liz’s head at Maria, Maria gave him a playful cutesy wave. “I’ll Make Love To You? The song I deflowered you to? Oh, totally.” Max chuckled. This night had been surreal and so perfect. 

When the song was over and Max went to go sit down, Liz pulled him back towards her. “What..?” Is as far as he got before her tongue was in his mouth and her hands were on his cheeks pulling him closer so she could kiss him better. Registering that he needed to kiss the woman of his dreams back, Max poured 10 years of longing into kissing her. They were completely oblivious that the song had changed to some bouncy Britney song and all the locals were staring at them until someone started applauding. 

“You want to get out of here?” Max asked, kissing her lips one more time and then her nose. He had red lipstick smeared across the lower half of his face like Maria had predicted.

“Ok. Your place?” Liz’s heart was pounding. She didn’t know how far she was going to go but she knew Max would respect her either way.


	10. Chapter 10

They pulled up to a large adobe house with a fire pit and no neighbors as far as Liz could see. You could practically see every star in the sky away from the city like this and in the distance, coyotes did their nightly yip yip yip call. Max came around the hood of his Jeep to help Liz out of her seat. It was a big jump down in heels when you were so little. Holding his arms out to steady Liz’s waist, she let him brace most of her weight while she hopped out. Her red dress poofed out showing a scandalous amount of leg before dropping back down. Max gulped and was thankful most of his lights were already off as the few he had flickered.

Taking her hand and leading her to his front door, Max swung open his front door. It was magazine perfect like he had hired a designer to make it the perfect southern rustic retreat. Everything was done in dark masculine colors, except the bright sand colored walls. There were wall to wall bookshelves filled with first edition books and a hardwood carved desk. “Max, did you make these shelves and things? Your house is amazing.” Liz asked in wonder, running her fingers along the spines of a couple books.

“I needed a hobby to keep me busy and relax when I’m not at the hospital. It’s no big deal. Isobel ran wild with my credit card decorating the house.” He shrugged shyly. He had imagined Liz in his home many times over the years and now here she really was. It felt amazing and surreal. “Do you want something to drink or anything?”

“She did a really good job decorating. I love your home, Max. No, I don’t need anything. Just you.” She looked up at him through her lashes and stepped closer to him. Looking up at him, she licked her lips. She needed him to kiss her again and now.

Not needing to be told twice, Max dropped to Liz’s level and captured her lips with his. She caged his face in her hands and moaned when his tongue stroked hers. Pulling her closer by her waist, Max softly ran his fingers up and down her back. They were breathing each other in and it was intoxicating. Gasping for air from their heated kisses, Max dropped a row of kisses down her neck. Biting when he reached her collar bone, he swore he heard her mumble “Fuck it.”

Liz blindly reached for the buttons on Max’s shirt and started pulling. She needed him against her skin. Right now. Frantically unbuttoning and shoving the shirt off his large shoulders, she nipped his bottom lip when he went to pull back and ask if she was sure. She needed him closer not further away. 

“Liz? I’m all for the direction this is headed but our first time in 10 years isn’t going to be on my hardwood floors. You need more romance.” Max adjusted his erection and tried to think straight. He definitely knew he wasn’t going to fuck the woman he loved right here. He needed to get her to the bedroom if this was going to go down. He never let his casual partners in there but this was Liz. If he played his cards right, someday it would be her room too. 

“You mean YOU need more romance. So light a candle or something. Your bedroom feels so far away” Liz pouted, reaching for the hem of her dress. Pulling it up over her head and plopping it on the floor, she stared at him defiantly. She was wearing a black lace thong and matching black lace bra and bit her lip watching him soak in every inch of her exposed skin. When she heard him growl and the light in the kitchen burst, she knew his control had snapped.

“You sure?” He waited for her nod then grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder heading towards his bedroom. She was hanging upside down with her hair brushing the floor and her ass in the air. He tightened his grip on her knees when she started wiggling and teasing him about being a control freak. “Be still or I’m going to have to spank you.”

“Really?” A rush of desire shot straight to Liz’s clit at the idea. Liz had never been spanked before but apparently her body liked the idea. Huh. 

Max laughed at her enthusiasm and playfully rubbed her ass before dropping her onto his bed. It was a king sized sea of navy sheets, pillows, and comforter. “No. Not tonight.” He kissed her nose apologetically. Tonight was for making love and getting reacquainted. They would revisit spanking another night.

Liz kissed Max’s bare chest as she unbuckled and unzipped his jeans. Shoving them down, she got frustrated when they got caught on his boots. Max smiled at her fervor and sat down on the bed to untangle himself. Hurling one boot then the other across the room, he finally got his jeans off. “Those boots were the worst idea ever” he grumbled sliding his boxers down his legs. His erection sprang free and bobbed once like it was waving hello to Liz.

Crawling on her hands and knees over to him at the edge of the bed, Liz ran one red sparkly manicured nail up his shaft. Hissing, Max stared at her with rapt attention. Fisting the base of his penis, Liz flattened her tongue and licked him base to tip a couple times before taking the head in her mouth. Max brushed her hair from her cheeks and groaned, pulling her hair into a messy pony tail and using it to steer her head to the rhythm he needed. 

When he realized she was moaning every time he hit the back of her throat, he almost lost it. Tasting his salty precum, Liz sucked harder and Max’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Gently pulling her off him despite her protests he said “I’m not coming in your mouth tonight Lizzie. I’m saving that for somewhere else.” 

Liz laid back on the bed and started to wiggle out of her panties but Max paused her with a hand on her abdomen holding her still. “Let me.” He whispered, kissing her belly button and moving down. Kissing her at the apex of her thighs where she was so wet for him, Max darted his tongue out and kissed her where she wanted him most through the fabric. Reaching a hand up, he mumbled “I’ll buy you new ones” before ripping her panties unceremoniously off her body so he could feast on her. 

Liz didn’t have time to prepare herself before Max was bringing her to the brink with his tongue. She raised her hips closer to his face and mindlessly pulled his hair to get him closer to where she needed him. He felt so good and she practically wanted to climb inside each other. She was never going to be close enough. Then he added his fingers and flicked her clit with his tongue and Liz was coming and trying to get a grip on the sheets to ground herself. Max licked her one more time and looked up at her from between her legs, his hair standing straight up from her fingers and his lips covered in her juices.

Standing up buck naked, Max started searching his bedside tables for something. “What are you doing? You’re too far away” Liz called to him, delirious from her orgasm.

“We need a condom.” He answered looking through another drawer.

“No we don’t. I'm clean and you’ve read my file. They don’t think I can get pregnant. I want to feel your skin bare against me.” 

“Fuck. I want to feel you bare against me too. You’re sure?” Max searched her eyes and when she nodded, he came back to the bed. Unbuckling her bra, he kissed each breast as they appeared. “Hello, old friends.”

Liz crawled up to the head of the bed and laid her head down on one of the poofy pillows. Climbing over her, Max kissed her jaw, her lips, and her nose. Max tapped her pussy with his dick twice to check that she was ready for him and was about to slide in when Liz suddenly sat up. “Wait. Max, do the handprint thing. I want you to feel what I feel.”

“Echos?” Max had never connected to someone during sex like this but he was intrigued by the idea. Placing his palm right where his last handprint had just faded, he concentrated on making the connection. His hands glowed red and he began to feel Liz’s heartbeat like it was his own. Lining himself up, he felt Liz’s anticipation and excitement mixed in with arousal as he slid inside. When he thrust forward, he felt her tingles and knew she was going to gasp before she did it. He could feel how much she liked certain things through the connection. And love. He felt so much love and contentment.

Having sex with Max like this was like turning on surround sound or discovering a new dimension it was too much. Liz liked to keep her walls up and she could feel literally everything he was feeling and knew he could feel her. Just as she started to panic from the sensations being too much, Max took her hands in his and squeezed. “I’ve got you. It’s ok.” He whispered nuzzling into her neck. Liz had never felt such intimacy in her life and a tear slipped out before she caught herself. Max kissed her tear away and feeling her final wall fall through their connection, he aimed for that spot that made her gasp and thrust harder. 

Feeling her getting close, Max willed himself to hold on a couple more minutes. She felt too good but she needed to come first. Picking up the pace to the tune of Liz’s gasps, he chased her into her orgasm and was rewarded with her screaming and cursing his name. Feeling her pussy clench around him as she came down from her orgasm, Max finally let himself let go. Squirting his seed inside her, Max growled about how much he fucking loved her and how good she felt.

Panting, they watched each other in wonder as Max hovered above her. He went to slide out and Liz threw her legs around his waist and held him where he was. “No! Don’t leave me yet.” Max shifted forward as he was softening and she gasped as another aftershock hit her. Max was way too sensitive right now and she was driving him crazy. Again. Max held her through one more aftershock then slid out and rolled over beside her. “Well. That was… wow” Liz looked over at him completely stupefied from coming so hard. Her legs were still shaking.

“Yeah. Give me 5 minutes and we can go again if you want to. You going to sleep over?” Max squeezed her hand letting his body cool down.

“Ok. I’d love to sleep over. You can make me breakfast for a change. Just let me text Rosa and tell her I’m not coming home. You know, when my legs work again.” Liz was all flopped out on his bed and felt like her legs were made of jello. She didn’t even know where her phone is. 

“Deal” Max kissed the side of her head and just let himself bask in the feeling of happiness and satiety radiating off both of them. The rest of their life started now.


	11. Chapter 11

Max woke up with Liz sprawled out across his chest and her hair everywhere. They had both passed out after the 3rd round the night before. He was sore from the workout and so happy he could burst. Hearing a frantic round of pings come from her phone somewhere across the room, he started running his fingers up and down her back to wake her. “Lizzie babe, you need to text Rosa. Your family is probably freaking out. We forgot to text them. I don’t want your dad to kill me.”

Liz opened one eye and grumbled at him. “Your fault. You did that thing with your tongue and distracted me.”

“How do you want your eggs? I’ll go make breakfast while you check in.” Max gently slid out from under her. He needed to get some distance from her all naked and disheveled or they were never going to get out of bed.

“But you are so comfy and it’s way over there!” Liz complained, flailing in the general direction of her phone.

“You’re cranky in the morning” he remarked handing her her phone. “Eggs?”

“With absolutely nothing you’d put in them. Just meat and cheese.” Max smiled at her crankiness and pecked her lips before leaving the room to make breakfast.

Picking up her phone, Liz noticed she had 20 missed calls from her father and several texts from Rosa. Deciding that Rosa would yell less, she typed out a message.

Liz: Fell asleep at Max’s house. Everything’s fine, I’ll be home soon.  
Rosa: Elizabeth! Did you have sex on a first date? You’re so bad. How was it? Papi is freaking out.  
Liz: Cover for me? I’m not telling you about sex with Max.  
Rosa: Was it as big as you remembered it?  
Liz: Rosa! I’ll be home soon.

Max returned with a cup of coffee and eggs and set it on the bedside table next to Liz. “What are you smiling about?” Max dropped down on the bed next to Liz, tracing a line on her chest from her breasts to her bellybutton with his fingertips. “Did you tell your family you’re alive?”

“Yes. Rosa asked how it was” she told him mischievously, raising a dark eyebrow at him. 

“Did you tell her I rocked your world?”

“No. Why would I tell her that?” Liz pretended to be indifferent but was becoming very distracted and aroused by him tracing shapes on her skin with his fingertips.

Max gasped in shocked outrage. “ Because I did!”

“I don’t know. I might need a reminder.” Liz teased him. Max pounced on her playfully and gave her a thorough good morning kiss. They were so busy reminding each other of how good it felt to be tangled up in themselves that Liz’s eggs and coffee were cold by the time they remembered they were on the bedside table. Liz’s legs were all wobbly getting dressed. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to be on her feet all day after their escapades.

——————————————

On Monday, Max reminded Liz that he had her scheduled to run tests the following day to be sure her cancer was gone. Liz had gone through this round of testing so many times that she was less nervous than he was and spent the next 30 minutes promising him everything would be okay. And if it wasn’t, he could just heal her again. Either way, things would work out. They just needed to know where her body was healthwise. 

——————————————

On Tuesday, Liz brought Max breakfast to the hospital wearing a comfy pair of leggings and one of his T-shirts she’d stolen after their first night together knotted on the side to fit. She knew no metal was allowed in the MRI machine and if she dressed down enough, they wouldn’t make her change into one of those drafty gowns. Max was in blue scrubs and his lab coat and looked positively sinful. Liz didn’t know the doctor uniform did it for her until she saw him in it.

“Good morning. You look…” Max trailed off realizing she was wearing one of his white undershirts. “You’re wearing my shirt.”

“I am. It smells like you and I like it.” Liz answered him unapologetically tilting her head up towards his. 

Max bumped his forehead against hers, not moving those last couple inches he needed to close in on her lips. “I can’t kiss you on duty until you’re officially not a patient any more but I want to so badly. Seeing you in my shirt does things to me.” 

“Good to know for later.” Liz was already coming up with ways to drive him crazy. 

“Alright you two! Enough funny business. I’ve got a little window of time where we can get this scan out of the way.” Michael said, walking up to them in green scrubs with his curls bouncing in rhythm to his steps. 

“Don’t put it in the system and bring the thumbnail of images straight to me. We need to make sure nothing suspicious ends up in her file for everyone’s sake.” Max warned him. “And then I’ll run her blood work myself. The less people involved the better.”

“You act like this is my first rodeo. Come on, Liz. 90s dance party in the MRI room.” Michael took off in the direction of the MRI machine and Liz had to scurry to catch up to him. He got her set up on the imaging table and clicked the plastic helmet in place hovering over her to make sure she was all lined up. Tucking her blankets around her to help her keep still and warm, he said “You make him happy. I haven’t seen him so relaxed since you left. Don’t do it again. 30 minutes and hopefully we never have to do this again.”

Liz nodded and absorbed his words while he went into the control room and the ledge she was on started rolling towards the machine. Liz had had so much energy lately and no pain. She was reasonably sure he had gotten all of it. But if he had missed even one abnormal blood cell, it would proliferate until she was sick again. She took deep breaths focusing on the music. The music and her internal dance party always kept her from panicking in the tightly enclosed space. Looking down towards her feet, she could see Michael and Alex slow dancing to the 98’ song they were blaring through the radiology department. Before she knew it, her 30 minutes was up and she came out from the MRI tunnel. 

“Alright, Liz. Let me just put this on a thumb drive and you’re good to go.” Michael called from the other room. A few minutes later, he returned to help her untangle from the blankets and get down off the ledge. He escorted her to the exit of the radiology department and was prepared to take her up to Max’s office; but when he opened the door Max was pacing the hallway restlessly. Michael shook his head at his worried face and handed him the thumb drive. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Max hugged her with relief at everything almost being over, nuzzling into her hair. “Come on. I have everything ready to do your blood work in my office. We won’t have results from the genetic test for a couple days though.” 

“Don’t you have patients that need you more than me?” Liz teased him. She knew part of the reason he was running the tests himself was because he wanted to see the results first with his own eyes. 

“No one needs me more than you. Ok, quick pinch.” He smiled at her apologetically, getting the butterfly needle ready to go with a couple extra tubes for blood. 

——————————————

On Wednesday, Liz was off work and Max came for his breakfast and kiss to unexpectedly find Liz in just a T-shirt and panties waiting on him to arrive in her room. Max busted the electrical system in the Crashdown that morning and was an hour late to work because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. He sent an electrician and his gold card over to replace the wiring he’d fried and install a generator. He would never be able to forgive himself if his excitement cost the Ortecho’s their family business. He told Arturo it was in exchange for letting him go out with his daughter and an ad for his practice in the back of the menus. 

——————————————

On Thursday, Max had all of Liz’s test results. Waiting to get off work so he could share them with her was agony. He was so happy he thought he might burst. Walking into the Crashdown, he searched out Liz with his eyes. 

“She’s upstairs changing out of her uniform, big guy” Rosa patted his chest seeing him looking. “I wouldn’t go up there. Papi almost caught y’all yesterday. I had to pretend I was choking to stifle your noises. We’re all right down here, you know.” Max flushed red and Rosa giggled at his embarrassed expression. Coming down the stairs in yoga pants and a “Get in Loser” shirt with an alien spaceship, Liz smiled when she saw Max walking over to him. 

“Can we talk somewhere private? I got your test results.” He gestured at the furthest booth with his chin and they both slid into it. “So, your MRI showed no fibrosis or scarring in your bone marrow.” Liz was expecting it, but it was so hard to wrap her mind around that she grabbed his hand to brace herself. “And your bloodwork showed no abnormalities. You’re cured, Lizzie.” Throwing her arms around his neck, Liz shook from crying happy tears. 

“Why is my sweet Bambina crying? If you caused this, I will hide your body in a place in the desert no one will ever find you.” Papi threatened Max seeing his daughter crying. 

“Papi, Max said that the last tests he ran showed no cancer indicators and that I am in remission. It’s a miracle.” Liz stared into Max’s eyes meaningfully. “Don’t threaten him. I’m happy.”

“I told y’all lighting a candle for you everyday at St Mary’s Cathedral would save you! This calls for a celebration. Rosa, go get the good tequila!” Papi laughed jubilantly. “My baby is going to be ok!”

Rosa returned with 4 shot glasses and the bottle of top shelf tequila they only used for special occasions. Rosa filled one shot with water for herself and poured heaping glasses of tequila for everyone else. “To Liz and her new chance at life!” Rosa toasted Liz, clinking glasses with everyone and chugging her shot of water while they did their tequila shots. 

“Let me go over your medication list and get rid of what you don’t need anymore so it doesn’t hurt you to keep taking it.” Liz handed him her phone with the medication list pulled up. All fourteen medications she had taken for the last 5 years were listed along with dosages. Max one by one removed her from the medications that had been used to keep her alive that she no longer needed. “You have allergies? You can keep those. Otherwise, it’s all done. No more pills, Lizzie. I’ll run your blood every few months to be sure but I will update your status to in remission in your file tomorrow.” Liz leaned her head on Max’s shoulder absorbing the news that the fight for her life was over. She was surrounded by everyone in the universe she loved and so content. Now she had to rebuild her life.


	12. Epilogue

In January 2019, Liz ran from Colorado and her fiancé of 24hrs to return to her childhood home of Roswell, New Mexico. She lost funding for her genetics study and was no longer healthy enough to work more than part time at her family’s restaurant. She fainted waiting tables from severe anemia and ended up in room 314 where she ran into her childhood sweetheart, Max, as her doctor. She was given the wrong blood during a transfusion and that is when her life changed forever. Max saved her life and showed her exactly what he was. And she loved him anyway. They went on their first date since high school and their life together began.

In February, they made love for the first time in 10 years. Max determined that she was completely cured of her cancer and was invited to a private Ortecho celebration as Liz’s significant other. They settled into a routine where Max came for a kiss every morning before work and on weekends, Liz slept over at his house. Liz spent most of the month adjusting to the fact that she could once again do the things she had mourned and moved on from in her life. They went ice skating for Valentines Day and discovered that Liz could skate well and Max definitely could not. And Liz admitted she still loved him too.

In March, Max bought Liz a dresser because she was bit by bit running out of places to keep her clothes and things at his house. She split her time equally between her family home and Max’s house. Liz started working on her resume and looking for research positions in the area. She made Max promise not to pull strings to get her a job at his hospital and they swore that they would handle the future together. Luckily, Liz was offered a research position at the nearby University of Albuquerque and no hard decisions about where to live came up for them. 

This is why in April, Max gave Liz a key to his house and told her she was welcome to move in with him. She already had at least one drawer in every room of his house, took up closet space and had a dresser of clothes in his room. It was a natural progression and his house was closer to her work anyway. Liz accepted on the condition that they have family dinner with Papi and Rosa every Sunday. Family was important to Liz and that’s why she created the Saturday lunch tradition with Michael and Isobel at their house. Sometimes even Max’s adoptive parents came.

In May, Liz finally felt comfortable enough in the house to start adding feminine touches here and there. Max took a week off work and they went on their first vacation together to California. Max bought her an engagement ring that caught his eye while they were there. It just screamed Liz. He hid it in his sock drawer for safekeeping, which lasted a week until Liz found it putting away laundry. She kept finding it to herself until Max realized that every time they went out for dinner or on a romantic date, Liz became super squirrelly and told her to fess up. And that is how they became engaged while sitting in Senor Chows. They couldn’t think of any reason to wait any longer with the foundation of their past firmly setting the base of their future. 

In June, Liz busied herself throwing a surprise party for Max at the Crashdown, even though Michael insisted Max didn’t particularly care about anyone else there but her. Rosa made Max an elaborate birthday cake with multiple tiers and salted caramel filling. Max and Liz lasted an hour before sneaking back to their home to be alone so Max could unwrap his favorite present- Liz. At the end of the month, Liz’s mother surprised everyone by reappearing. Rosa told her firmly to stay out of their lives if she couldn’t stay sober and not to return. 

Liz began planning their wedding in July. She wanted it to be small and intimate with just their family and close friends. Liz asked Rosa to be her maid of honor and Max asked Michael to be his best man. Driving home from work one night, Max’s headlights hit a bony German Shepherd. Finding no collar and the animal needing help, he let her into his Jeep. And that is how Cheyenne joined their family. Max quickly fell in love with their dog, even though she chewed on the bottom row of his books when she was nervous.

In August, Liz suddenly became fatigued and so nauseous she swore she was getting sick again. Max was worried but did his best to hide it until he knew what was going on. He ran bloodwork to see if her cells had started mutating again and was shocked to discover Liz was pregnant. They hadn’t been sure if she could even get pregnant but apparently removing the abnormal cells had allowed her body to sustain a child. They agreed to keep it a secret as long as possible. They were both scared of what her Papi would do when he found out his youngest daughter was pregnant out of wedlock. 

In September, Liz started waking up in the middle of the night craving disgusting combinations of food she never would have imagined putting in her mouth. “This is all you and your super alien sperm’s fault” she would grumble at him while eating a banana sundae made out of pickles, peppermint ice cream and chocolate. Max was getting used to her waking him up in the middle of the night for things he never would’ve thought to mix but always tasted delicious to him. Maria and Rosa realize Liz is pregnant at girls night at the Pony when Liz spends the evening sipping water and eating everything in sight. 

By October, Papi is suspicious of Liz’s sudden change of appetite and constant need to run to the bathroom. Max and Liz decide to move their wedding up from January so that Liz can still fit into her dream dress. Deciding on a date in mid November, they go into frantic wedding planning mode. They agree on Vegas and tell their closest friends and family to save the date. Max is nervous about Liz’s ability to carry a human/alien child without complications and constantly flutters around her. He doesn’t know how he can already love someone he’s never met so much. 

In November, Max marries his soulmate at the Elvis chapel surrounded by everyone he loves on the 15th. Liz has Rosa, Isobel and Maria as bridesmaids in red dresses and Max has Michael and Alex as his groomsmen. And Papi, with his chest puffed out with pride, walks Liz down the aisle in her beaded A line dress and tiara holding on her veil. During the bouquet toss, Maria and Isobel both catch it and after a brief moment of intense eye contact, Isobel is declared winner. 

In December, Liz and Max find out they’re having a girl. They tell their parents together at family dinner and absolutely no one is shocked. It’s not like they were as subtle about it as they thought. They spend the next few months turning the guest room into a nursery and arguing over whether their little girl will have a pink or turquoise room. Eventually, Liz wins and they paint the room a bright turquoise because Max can never tell her no. Rosa handprints bright colored animals all over the walls as a baby gift and Papi bombards his first grandchild with presents.

In March, their first child is born healthy and based on the light show she puts on, definitely part alien. Luckily, Liz planned ahead and had a doula deliver her at home. She has dark curly hair like her father and chocolate colored eyes full of mischief like her mother. They name her Kylie Ann and she is everything they never knew they needed. Max and Liz build a life that is more than anything they could have dreamed of for themselves and they don’t even need a white picket fence to complete their perfectly imperfect life.

**Author's Note:**

> First multi chapter fic from me, here we go! Have to survive the Great RNM drought of 2019-2020 somehow.
> 
> Also, Emily 5/13/8Idontwanttotalkaboutit Myelofibrosis, what is up?


End file.
